In Cabo San Lucas, the Restaurant Industry Leads the Día de Muertos Parade
"Los visitantes lo disfrutan y los locales se enorgullecen de mostrar su propia cultura." Visitors enjoy it, and locals take pride in showing their own culture.
That line comes from CANIRAC Los Cabos, the regional chapter of Mexico's restaurant industry chamber. It describes the event that has become the main public Día de Muertos celebration in Cabo San Lucas. This is the chamber's third Desfile de Catrin@s, and the people walking it are restaurant and bar staff in catrina and catrín costume, riding and marching alongside vehicles their employers decorated.
That detail explains how the 2026 weekend works in Cabo San Lucas. The town's biggest public moment is put on by the businesses that feed it, and it happens on Sunday, November 1. The municipal festival, with its prize contests and official stage, is in San José del Cabo on Monday, November 2. A resident who wants the whole holiday is planning two evenings in two towns.
The parade leaves the Pabellón Cultural de la República at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026, and ends at Campo de Yenekamu in the center of Cabo San Lucas. The Visit Los Cabos event listing puts it at Blvd. Paseo de la Marina and Lázaro Cárdenas, runs it from 5 to 7 p.m., and lists it as free and open to spectators.
CANIRAC organizes it, and Bomberos Voluntarios de Cabo San Lucas and the Gobierno Municipal de Los Cabos support it. The chamber describes the procession as a tribute to those who are gone, carried through the center of town by its affiliated restaurants and bars and their teams.
For anyone who lives here, the parade has a second layer. The people in face paint on Lázaro Cárdenas are the servers, cooks and bartenders from the dining rooms the town uses all year, walking the boulevard in costume as a tribute organized by their own industry.
A few practical points for Sunday:
Because the restaurant industry runs the parade, the rest of November 1 in Cabo San Lucas also centers on restaurants and hotels. Several named venues have posted their own November 1 programs.
El Squid Roe, at Blvd. Lázaro Cárdenas 1112 on the Marina, has a Sunday celebration with marigolds, papel picado, face painting, DJs and live entertainment. The venue says a creative costume waives its usual $20 USD per-person door minimum for guests without a table, which suits anyone arriving straight from the parade route in costume.
The Cape has a daytime program in two parts. Its Día de Muertos Candle Bazar runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on November 1 and is listed at $300 MXN. Earlier that day, the Día de Muertos brunch at The Ledge runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at $88 USD per person, with Mexican-inspired brunch stations, an altar, themed cocktails and live music.
Put together, Sunday can run from brunch to dancing without leaving Cabo San Lucas: a morning at The Ledge, the candle bazaar into the afternoon, the parade at five, and El Squid Roe after dark. Every stop on that route is a hospitality business.
The official municipal festival is in San José del Cabo. The Instituto de la Cultura y las Artes de Los Cabos, part of the XV Ayuntamiento, lists its 2026 Festival Tradicional del Día de Muertos for November 1 and 2, with altar, catrina and catrín, and pan de muerto competitions, plus artistic programming, film and a parade. According to the institute's call for entries, the contest event takes place on Monday, November 2, at Plaza Pública Tte. José Antonio Mijares.
This program works differently from the parade in Cabo San Lucas. The San José festival is a competition open to residents of the municipality, and that includes Cabo San Lucas residents. The prize money, from the institute's call:
| Contest | Who can enter | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altares | High schools, universities and the general public of the municipality | $15,000 MXN | $12,000 MXN | $9,000 MXN |
| Catrinas y Catrines, Infantil | Los Cabos residents ages 5 to 13 | $7,000 MXN | $5,000 MXN | $3,500 MXN |
| Catrinas y Catrines, Jóvenes / Adultos | Los Cabos residents 14 and older | $9,000 MXN | $7,000 MXN | $4,500 MXN |
| Pan de Muerto | Bakers native to Los Cabos, 18 and older, using traditional techniques | $5,000 MXN | $3,000 MXN | $2,000 MXN |
Altars have to represent Mexican culture with traditional elements and include voceros, people who explain the altar's meaning to visitors. Catrina and catrín entrants are judged on a classic Mexican concept, walk in the parade and appear on a runway in the plaza.
Registration is free and closes Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., one week after this post goes up. Entries are taken at the institute's offices on the second floor of the Casa de la Cultura de San José del Cabo Profr. Alfredo Green González, calle Álvaro Obregón s/n, Col. Centro, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., phone 624 123 2711. The institute asks for an INE or passport, proof of address, a CURP and a short description of the proposal.
So the two parades draw from different people. In Cabo San Lucas, restaurant teams walk on behalf of their workplaces. In San José, individual residents and families walk as contestants. A household in Cabo San Lucas can watch one on Sunday and enter the other on Monday.
Further up the corridor, the institute has also called for entries to a traditional altar contest in Miraflores, set for Saturday, October 31, from 6:30 p.m. in the center of town beside the Monumento a las Madres. It is open to schools, families, committees and associations, with teams of at least four Miraflores residents.
Parades and contests are the public side of Día de Muertos. Family visits to cemeteries are the private side, and they also happen on November 1 and 2.
Tribuna de México reported on October 13 that the XV Ayuntamiento's Dirección General de Servicios Públicos had stepped up cleaning, weeding, pruning and maintenance at municipal cemeteries across Los Cabos ahead of those two days. According to the report, Mayor Christian Agúndez Gómez ordered the work. Crews are clearing trash and brush, pruning trees and inspecting walkways and common areas so people can walk freely when crowds peak. City officials asked visitors to help keep graves clean and to put waste in the containers placed inside the cemeteries during the November 1 and 2 visits.
The municipality has not published special cemetery hours or vendor plans for 2026. Anyone planning an early-morning or evening visit should check the Ayuntamiento's announcements in the last days of October.
| Day | Time | What | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 29 | Until 2:00 p.m. | Last day to register for altar, catrina and pan de muerto contests | Casa de la Cultura, San José del Cabo | Free |
| Sat, Oct 31 | From 6:30 p.m. | Miraflores altar contest | Beside the Monumento a las Madres, Miraflores | Not listed |
| Sun, Nov 1 | 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Día de Muertos brunch | The Ledge at The Cape, Cabo San Lucas | $88 USD |
| Sun, Nov 1 | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Candle Bazar | The Cape, Cabo San Lucas | $300 MXN |
| Sun, Nov 1 | 5 to 7 p.m. | CANIRAC Desfile de Catrin@s | Pabellón Cultural to Campo de Yenekamu | Free |
| Sun, Nov 1 | Evening | Día de Muertos celebration | El Squid Roe, Blvd. Lázaro Cárdenas 1112 | Costume waives $20 USD door minimum |
| Mon, Nov 2 | Per festival program | Municipal altar, catrina and pan de muerto contests | Plaza Mijares, San José del Cabo | Free |
| Nov 1 and 2 | All day | Family cemetery visits | Municipal cemeteries across Los Cabos | Free |
The municipality's fifth Altares en el Mar, a nautical festival with floating altars in the marina, ran November 1 to 4 in 2025, according to the Ayuntamiento de Los Cabos. A 2026 edition had not been announced as of mid-October. If it returns, it would add a waterfront program to the parade weekend, and the Ayuntamiento's site is where that announcement would appear.
Our team lives and works in this calendar too, and the weeks around Día de Muertos are a good time to see how a neighborhood actually feels with marigolds on the doors and the boulevard full of catrinas. If you are spending your first November 1 as a Cabo San Lucas homeowner, or hoping to spend the next one here, Be In Cabo is glad to talk through which parts of town keep the parade route a short walk away. Search Properties when you are ready, and we will see you on Lázaro Cárdenas at five.
The PGA TOUR returns to El Cardonal at Diamante this November. Here’s how to make a day of it—and why the tournament belongs on Cabo’s community calendar.
How to evaluate cafés, daily errands, beach routes, and the real walking experience before choosing a Cabo home.
At El Tule Beach, Pastor Rick Gordon and Paloma Palacios welcome a new season of Sunday mornings together.
As Black & Blue opens, a look at the people, traditions, and marina moments behind tournament week.
Look beyond the bedroom count to find a home that makes time together comfortable.
A buyer’s guide to terraces, shade, privacy, and the everyday comfort behind the view.
A practical way to balance property tours, neighborhood time, and the questions that shape your Cabo lifestyle.
Whether you're searching for a vacation home, an income-producing investment, or your forever home in Los Cabos, we'll guide you with local expertise, honest advice, and personalized service. Experience the difference of working with professionals who put your goals first.
Get In Touch With Our Team
ADDRESS Jacarandas Fracc III Ste 2615 Plaza Cardones L17 Lomas del Pacifico Cabo San Lucas, Estado de Baja California Sur 23473